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Topic: Learn More From the Experts About Technical Writing (Read 710 times)

Some may say that they are already good writer on their own right; while others may need more than just a push to help them express their ideas into words. Others who want to excel in their work may simply decide to attend classes on technical writing. Whatever level you are into writing, there would always that space where you could improve on. Now let us look at what some more distinguished writers have to share on their writing experiences.

• Kurt Vonnegut, on finding a subject: “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style. I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way -- although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.”

• Sarah Waters, on the concept of discipline: “Treat writing as a job. Be disciplined. Lots of writers get a bit OCD-ish about this. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day. Jean Plaidy managed 5,000 before lunch, then spent the afternoon answering fan mail. My minimum is 1,000 words a day – which is sometimes easy to achieve, and is sometimes, frankly, like shitting a brick, but I will make myself stay at my desk until I've got there, because I know that by doing that I am inching the book forward. Those 1,000 words might well be rubbish – they often are. But then, it is always easier to return to rubbish words at a later date and make them better.”

• Richard Ford, about other’s achieving fame and success: “Try to think of others' good luck as encouragement to yourself.”